DOMINICAN REPUBLIC RESCUE workers have ended the search for survivors of a nightclub roof collapse as the death toll surpassed 180 in the Caribbean nation’s worst disaster in decades.

Emergency personnel last night reported 60 more deaths compared to the morning’s count, with the total confirmed tally reaching 184.

An official statement had earlier said that “all reasonable possibilities of finding more survivors” had been exhausted, and the focus of the operation will turn to recovering bodies.

“Today we will complete the rescue effort,” said Jose Luis Frometa Herasme, head of the fire service in the Dominican capital Santo Domingo, where the tragedy ocurred at the Jet Set nightclub in the early hours of Tuesday, sending shockwaves through the nation.

Relatives of missing people were still waiting desperately for news yesterday of their loved ones outside the ruined club, at hospitals and at the local morgue.

Over 300 rescue workers, aided by sniffer dogs, had spent two days combing through mounds of fallen bricks, steel bars and tin sheets, supported by firefighters from Puerto Rico and Israel.

Aerial images of the site showed a scene resembling the aftermath of an earthquake, with a gaping hole where the roof of the club – a fixture of Santo Domingo’s nightlife for half a century – had been.

Over 500 people were also injured when the roof caved in while renowned merengue singer Rubby Perez was performing for a crowd of hundreds.

Perez and two former Major League Baseball players were among the dead.

‘A lot of pain’

Antonio Hernandez, whose son worked at the Jet Set nightclub, told AFP his hopes of finding his son alive had begun fading as he watched more and more bodies, but no survivors, being retrieved.

The remains in one body bag resembled his son’s height and build, said Hernandez, but he did not investigate. “I don’t have the stomach to find out the worst yet.”

Mercedes Lopez said she was in a lot of pain as she waited to learn the fate of her son.

“We haven’t found him on the lists or in the hospitals,” she said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent his condolences Wednesday and said at least one US citizen was among the victims.

“Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones affected by this devastating event,” he wrote on X.

Pope Francis also sent condolences.

Merengue ‘idol’ mourned

Local media said there were between 500 and 1,000 people in the club when disaster struck around 5:44am Irish time on Tuesday. The club can hold 1,700 people.

A video posted on social media showed the venue suddenly plunged into darkness while Perez was singing.

The star’s daughter Zulinka managed to escape but her father did not. His body was recovered Wednesday.

Tributes to the singer, known for hits such as “Volvere” and “Enamorado de Ella,” poured in from across Latin America.

“Maestro, what a great pain you leave us,” Puerto Rican Grammy-winning singer Olga Tanon wrote on social media.

Perez’s former band leader Wilfrido Vargas said he was “devastated” at the death of an “idol of our genre.”

The baseball world meanwhile mourned the death of Octavio Dotel, a 51-year-old baseball pitcher who won the World Series with the St Louis Cardinals in 2011 and Tony Blanco, 45, who also played in the United States.

President Luis Abinader declared three days of national mourning.

‘Dirt started falling’

Iris Pena, a survivor, told local television that she made for the door after “dirt started falling like dust” into her drink and then a stone fell and cracked the table where she was sitting.

“The impact was so strong, as if it had been a tsunami or an earthquake,” she said.

The Jet Set club said Tuesday saying it was working with authorities probing the disaster – one of the worst in Dominican history.

In 2005, more than 130 prisoners in the east of the country died in a fire caused by a fight between inmates.

- © AFP 2025